Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, January 17, 1918, Page 2

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Joed ‘to ople Hide In: ccl irs Lest Boehe/ By. FREDERIC wlLLlAM w“.! of the Vigilantes. | /igomewhere in France” '—1 ‘never lmuined in the wildest flights of fan- | €y about war that to galn an objective under - modern battle ' conditions an army has not to lay waste a posmon or a village but practically a country- side. You: can_ motor: nowadays for. hours in m reglon generally' knovm, as the British front, sweep the 1and- scape for miles In every direction, and see nothing but-ruins of what used to be ‘human habitations. | Your ' gnides - gcattered dump;iof brick, twisted ' timbers, indiscrimi- lnte ‘Tubbish of-all‘sorts; lining either’ : fldeot the roadway along which you ‘Here and 'there at’ir mnur intervals the bare, chnrrofltfcek- 8 8 anding wall lnywhero. Hor: wen dpor or. window:frame, and, no semblance of a ifoof. :There:are' anly.cellarsiinto which: houses, shops, | churches, - stores,. #chool —have been thrown into a crasy. heldm all of a town-wide grave. : : |¢1%We are now going through —=——, muks our' military chaperone, 1a- ‘conically, and we recognize the name 'of a place prominent in the fighting ilurlnz some important *push” weeks 'or ‘months-ago—now ‘wiped' from" the face of the earth as effectually as if honest French peasants and yillagers _had never striven through the genera- tions to‘make a comfortable abode for themselves nnd theirs.. One hopes that the ministering angels permitted them to evacuate the town . before thelr homes were splintered and crushed by 16-inch death-dealers. One wonders how many human remains may. still lte buried Leneath the wreckage of beams and sandstone.:. - One' . :speculates whether men, women -nd A contrived to ‘escape -’ sh ‘ever again be able to sun Jite with, thelr. dwellings, places of business:and 1 cultivated flelds mangled .and devu- tated. One is persuaded dous a8 is the work ‘of. eetrucuon’ wrought by twentieth century warfare, the task of reconstruction will be | enormously more glnnfic ‘still, Towns that took years to make have been shot to pieces in an hour. Last Word 'in ‘Perforation. I have heard of towns in our own wild and wooly West thnt have been | ‘18 surely ‘the {: “shot-up.” But last word in complem and ‘scientific perforation.’ In July, 1914,0it was @ happy, thriving community of 85,000 or 40,000 inhabitants, a-smiling town, with a wonderful Grand place and a picturesque ‘Petit place, 2 noble Gothic cathedrals and ‘a’ splendid’ town' hall. Round the Grand pluce ran a quad- rangle of colonnaded houses of sur, . passing architectural beauty. I‘or the rest, the town was. typically . French, by ‘which I meun a complex of neat stores and dwelling houses, churches and factories, schools and estuininets (eafes). Today there is not a solitury building of any kind in the whole town . thut is not entir Lly or. pnmnlly wreck- ed. There is not a single thing of wood, brick or stone that is fptact. Not more than 1,500 or 2,000: people live there now, and they must hide in cellurs most of the time, lest Boche shells” search them. out.: Death: lurks 1a every street, even though the Brit- ish. have ‘held it for more than two yeurs uud have extended their lines ‘cfl\l!lfi.o quarters.of the American’] Washington brought another human Belglqne. lhtk!nz hands: wltb WVery. bystander. “Trumpeters, like six Pled Pipers of| Hamelin,, led the dancing, - shouting}| throng to the casino—all except & few sick ‘children who were cafried 1h Ameriean Red Cross ambulan At the ‘casino’ all’ recelved: food; flags were distributed and ‘songs- were sung. Welcoming words were spoken by the mayor. ;Even the small children knew the words of ‘Brabanconne’ and'the Marseillaise,’ but some of them: were ‘so tired that they -Iept right throuh the mul!e. _ i “Nsxt came_baths, ex-mlnntlo ‘by aniiAmerican’ Red Oross’ doctor; then lunch and’sléep. 'Tomorrow these | childrén start ‘tor Longlandier, . whel:;a 11” house ns, oth:| _the::Americain’ Red. Cross ‘thousands of them—some orp! ers” pretubercular or needing better| nourishment than was possible” undet the’ German mle from which' they’ had ‘comey - £ “One 1ittle girk in the throng Qadm barking at Evian clutched four: franc pleces in. a pudgy. fist, ‘What are you going to do-with them? she was asked. || ‘Buy paper to write w mnmma. »wm' #i the reply.” Another- cablegram recelved at Red 'speech to the last: trainload of repat: ries, the mayor of Eyian called par| ticular attention to’ their gratitude tc the ‘American Red Cross for the: splen did work it 1s doing in hospital care of sick ezhlldren The &peech was Instant: Iy reSponded to with'shouts of “L'Amer. Ique. vive ‘nos allies.” MEMENTO OF WORK - IN SERBIAN HOSPITAL )‘&m‘ beyond it considerably during the'past'( f few months, * Though: they have, lvng since turned the town into scrups; of its former self, the Germans seem filled with an insutiable lust to flatten out even the scraps. You walk through the Grand place, hugging close to the walls by order of your urmy guide, in perpetual danger that a souvenir from Krupps wiil lnnd at your feet and send © fragments . of cyou: 1lying o the ethercal eternal. But you are only lving the life that the Dritsh garison and indomitable litile civibiud rear- guard of 1,600 or 2,000 people—niostly old mén nnd women too fragile to seek ' safer ubode fuither behind the lines -are living day in and day out. - 4 Musc;,n of German Savagery. * This {hougiit occurred to me while sirveying the tumbled-down cathedral and mince-meated town hall and the limitless field of desolation aud devas- tatien lying all around them at evary turning: Why not keep it Just as it is today, a pile of glorfous ruias, as a world muscum of Germnan suvagery? Why not leave it, stricken; buttered and maimed 1n its every structural limb, Just as we saw it this duy three years after, for the admonition, horror and Instruction of a universe ‘which has:xushed to-arms for the overthrow - of iliberty’s foe? A There will be vast Hibraries of documentary evidence of . the Huns' atrocities to educate and ‘' terrify posterity. But what are books and deecrlpdons and ‘documSutary oroofs comparec tosuch an oculsrdfl- | Miss Elizabeth .Shelley. of :Washing: ton has a memento of: many months' work - conducting : with' Mme. Slavko Grouiteh a:children’s hospital in a Jit- tle Serbian town in the early stage of the war.. His name is Bogaljub, which: is Slavic for: God's love, and his chlef ambition is to be a Boy Scout and an American citizen. Bogaljub is four years ‘old, one of the few Serbian or- phans allowed to depart from Serbis efter the Austrian occupation. Clothing Is Needed. The Red Cross society is informed; that great quantities of clothing will Lo needed by the civilian population of war-stricken 'countries of Europe. Wonien who are not able because of |} home duties or physical disability to take up clerical work.. are urged to make gsrents for the noncombatant peoples of Belglum, France and Po- Cross * headquarters says. that in 8 ('A ;,velt shfoe the vamp " A ', the top from grey kid, medium h h 37.30 wvalue, sizes:3 to 7 wldth égh ; . op from S s 1 e cut shows the shoe a8 it is, this shoe :oul ak!i:’f be ~dav 10 sell for less than $12.00, sizes 3 sale price 3627. An extra fine shoe, vamp black kid, to brow hid wmg tip.-lece, price $10.50; sizes 31-2 to 6, wrdlt’hs Aa:d C éa 95 _ ck vici vamp, champagne ‘suede {op, 'high 'heel a very styh 9—111 lace hoe, : y : -3 to 7,-widths A and C, sale o) value. i $7 95 438 An all black -welt ici sh e, 'high heel, lace, we had : on.this shqe of $5.85; have all sizes from 31-2 to 7, wndthsa])s pgz pgs The cut describes this shoe exactly, the stock is the best vgrade of e le and has all the fine polnts of-a ‘high grade shoe, “which'is r;ltllch below the market, is 3900 We have themin A ale pnce....q. and C s AL 177 A two-tone tan shoe. hlgh top lace. welt sole. va]ues".. wide. sale prlee.. The price, $7.50 | sa 95 Our 38.75 Ceaeresnsvenavsenisesisvssnntasesasesnsusannes Out-slze shoes for,1adies who requu'e a shoe larger-around top but who wish a tasty.shoe. . ™~ We have them in: white kid, 31000 values, D wide, sale"pnce. i B B S e s e ... $8. 75 -In black lud widths D snd E. Sale price ..... Seivesasastanieiasieiiacats - Misses’ o Children’s ** Ladies' 1 buckle overshoes, a pan- Misses 1 .“ [ 520’ We have this shoe in vici kid and oateht leath : i dressy shoe, at the moderate pnce of 3600 Band D w131t.hs Sl sale pnoe ; $4 95 cese All: Shoes that we have but one panr left in the lot will be sold at ~All Canvas and* Tenms Shoes d Felt 'sioat ‘nafgains- In cnildmn's Slms' " All Misses’ and Children’s Shoes wili be oold at 20 per cent Dlecount from our regular price and our regular price is more than 28 per cent below the preeent market. . OVERSHOES AND FLEECED LINED RUBBERS - Ladies’ fleeced rlibbers a 'pau' N fihfld sl bdml::alg overshoes, a pair ... isses’ an ies 2 buckle overshoes, . 8k Child’s 2 buckle overshoes, a pair. oo ::-:g -Big Boys® ruhber top ribbed mbbers. sizes 4, 5,6, 7.a Same rubber without tops, sizes 4, 5 6 a pmr . 81.08 88c ... 18¢c .....31.28 98¢ best grade, - " Defective

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